Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Bon Secours

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Bon Secours, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Interesting foamy dark beer. Slightly bitter, very complex taste, including hints of salt licorice (salmiakki for the initiated). A very pleasant aroma of pine woods was also found.

Belgian Beer Review: Ciney Brune/Bruin

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Ciney Brune/Bruin, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Nice aroma. Great, slightly sweet taste. Not very bitter, a very comfortable beer if one is not at ease with darker brews.

Belgian Beer Review: Mort Subite Gueuze

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Mort Subite Gueuze, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Very sweete gueuze beer. Bitter end but rather unremarkable. As gueuzes go, my least favourite of them all.

Belgian Beer Review: St. Feuillien Brune

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: St. Feuillien Brune, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Surprisingly fruity abbe beer. Strong colour and cereals present in aftertaste.

Belgian Beer Review: Trappistes Rochefort

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Trappistes Rochefort, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

A beer with an interesting colour, dark but not transparent, and very clean aroma. High alcoholic content, but an excellent soft taste with hints of Gouda cheese, full grain bread and chocolate.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Sunny!


Sunny!, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Since last weekend we have had only sunny days here in Brussels. I had almost forgotten how that looked.

Pity it is so close to our exam period, so there is not really so much time to go out and enjoy it.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Hoegaarden Grand Cru

Sorry for the delay. This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Hoegaarden Grand Cru, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

A beer with a nice golden colour, and somewhat complex taste: slightly bitter, with overtones of tropical fruits and cherries. Its taste somehow compelled me to drink it with a slice of good bread.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Kasteel Bruin/Brune

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.



Belgian Beer Review: Kasteen Bruine/Brune, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

Deceptively fruity brown beer. Nice colour, great aroma, very comfortable taste, but quite a punch at 11% alcoholic volume. A very unexpected new favourite, after Chimay brune.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Leffe Radieuse

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Leffe Radieuse, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

This is the last of the Leffe abbey beers available at my local supermarket. A dark, creamy, bitter ale with a fruity aroma and one of my personal favourites. If you don't like strong tastes, avoid it.

Belgian Beer Review: Lindemans Pecheresse

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.



Belgian Beer Review: Lindemans Pecheresse, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

A fruity lambic beer with peach under and overtones. Interesting colour. Very sweet and not for those who don't like fruity beers. This one is a favourite of some girls I know.

Belgian Beer Review: Westmalle Tripel

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Belgian Beer Review: Westmalle Tripel, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

This Trappist beer has a strong honey colour and aroma. Its flavour is very strong, but initially deceptively light and with hints of nice caramel. At the end of the tasting provides a strong kick at 9%.

Belgian Beer Review: Brigand

As you might have gathered, the flu had seriously hampered my efforts in this project, but now we're back.

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series
.





Belgian Beer Review: Brigand, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.

This beer has a very strong alcoholic taste (9%), too bitter for me, though. Nice colour, has been refermented in the bottle.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Leffe Triple/Tripel

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.

Another in the Leffe abbey beer family, this light amber-coloured beer has a fresh aroma and a strong flavour with more than a hint of chocolate. At 8.5% alcoholic content, it's a beer for tasting.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Brugs

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.

A Witbier with a nice aroma, but a rather unremarkable witbier taste. The artertaste was not particularly pleasant, with hints of cough medicine.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Grimbergen Blond/Blonde

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.

A very refreshing beer with a slightly citric, acidic taste and an unremarkable aroma.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Attached to people, not places

My fiancée commented once that I was probably more "international" than she was (if there is such a thing) even though she has lived in 3 other countries besides her own, and in my case it's one less. I wouldn't mind moving from country to country that much, as long as the job is interesting, the pay and the quality of life are good and we are together (which of course entails her filling her requirements list as well). However, she referred to a valid point: I'm not attached to the places themselves anymore, but to the people in them. A place is just nature, buildings and maybe a nice view or two, but the people I know (and the people I love) are really what is important.

One example are my feelings to the place where I was born. Even though I consider myself to be healthily nationalistic I don't have an urge to go back and settle there, but just to see my family and friends. The same is the case with Finland. I'm very grateful for my experiences there, but it's a place as good as any, what is important are the friends and family there. Belgium is the same story: if it fills the criteria detailed in the first paragraph I'd stay after my studies are finished, otherwise I'm willing to search for something somewhere else.

The problem with freedom, as a friend says is that "you don't know what to do with it". I hope that's not my case.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Belle-Vue Gueuze

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.

Another Belle-Vue beer, this is a Gueuze Lambic beer, with a very nice amber colour, and a sweet and sour taste. Even though Gueuze beers are originally from the Brussels region, the flavour reminded me of a Michelada (a Mexican beer prepared with lemon and salt).

Monday, February 19, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Leffe 9°

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


Another in the
Leffe abbey beer family, this beer has the same nice amber colour and a very similar taste to its siblings, but more of a punch at 9% alcoholic content. Not a beer to be drunk if you're going to be on a long drinking night, but more of a beer to sit down and taste.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Hoegaarden

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.


My favourite witbier/bière blanche/weissbier. Made from wheat, has a very clear colour and a very refreshing taste with a touch of lemon. Excellent for a summer day.

Hope you like the change in picture format.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Belgian Beer Review: Kwak

This is a post in the Belgian beer review series.

Belgian Beer Review: Kwak, originally uploaded by Chiva Congelado.


Interesting beer with a funny name and an unconventional taste. Very nice amber colour, the taste has some frutal notes but is also very strong in the back of the mouth, so I frankly lack the vocabulary to describe it. Was glad I tried it, but it is not one of my favourites, as I prefer a more orthodox palate.